Medical Summaries and Medical Chronologies
Frequently, my attorney-clients request that I write a medical summary or a chronology. I always try to clarify such a request as much as possible - tailoring it to the attorney's preferences and needs. My guiding principle is generally to provide only as much detail as needed for the purpose of the report. Sometimes less is more - and of course less time-consuming for me to produce and for the attorney to read. On the other end of the scale, a case may be very complicated with many critical details, and in some situations it may be in the attorney's best interest to include all those details in the summary.
Over the years, I've developed various ways of doing summaries and chronologies which have suited the attorneys well. Here are some examples:
Brief Medical Summary
This would typically be a 1-2 page report, which briefly summarizes key events and issues, but leaves out a lot of detail. This would be suitable for such things as an initial, pre-litigation review or as a reference for a case being rejected.
Detailed Medical Summary
This would typically be a 2-10 page report, which chronologically summarizes all the relevant details and discusses the key issues in more depth. This would be suitable for such things as an initial evaluation for a case which is being, or may well be, litigated.
Medical Chronology / Time Chronology
Chronologies are typically used for cases that are being litigated and the attorney needs a short summary of each provider visit and/or event. They are often used as a reference for the attorney. Depending on number of events and the amount of detail required, these can sometimes be very time-consuming to create.
I can tailor the form factor to an attorney's preferences. Some attorneys may want everything written long-hand with complete sentences, and I'm happy to that. However, many of my clients prefer a short-hand chronology style that I've developed. It reads more like a doctor's note, with common medical abbreviations and abbreviated sentences. This short-hand style, I think, is quicker and easier to use as a reference, needs fewer pages, and reduces the time involved to make.
Sometimes the key events in a case occur over a short period of time and an attorney may need essentially a minute-by-minute summary. This is called a time chronology or a timeline. Using a database format I developed, I can fairly easily list various events found in different parts of a chart and — with the press of a button — put everything in chronological order.